Grounded
by Hailsy
Summary: When an accident leaves Hiccup and Toothless grounded, Hiccup uses his compulsory downtime to work on some of his inventions. Set somewhere between RTTE season 4 and the second movie. 2 part story.
1. Chapter 1

Hey! Peeps, I'm back. I've been struggling with writers block with my other story so I've been writing some other stuff in the meantime. This is Part One, Part Two should be up as soon as I've finished editing. Hope you like this!

* * *

Hiccup finished connecting the last rod of Toothless' tail rig and sat back.

"What do you think, bud?" He pulled the thin metal lever that now sat just below where he hooked his prosthetic into the harness. "Could use some tweaking I suppose," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully and glanced down at his metal foot. "Maybe even find a way to combine it with the pedal. But let's see if it actually works first."

Toothless chirped happily and flapped his new tail fin.

Hiccup jumped up into the saddle and positioned his feet. Muscles bunched beneath the saddle as Toothless launched himself into the air, propelling the duo upwards, wings pumping.

"Looks good." Hiccup twisted in the saddle to check the tension in the rigging. "Everything seems to be holding. It's all you now bud."

Toothless dipped through the clouds. Condensation glittered on his scales.

"Let's see how fast we can get."

Hiccup carefully disconnected his metal foot from the rig. Slowly he pulled his legs up and stretched out flat along Toothless's back. The wind streamed through his hair and made his eyes water. "This is amazing!"

Toothless warbled and shot a fire blast out in front of them. They rose in the warm air current.

"Let's see what this new tail can do!"

Hiccup held on tight to the saddle as Toothless twisted downwards into a dive.

"Woo hoo!"

The rush of air pressed Hiccup tight against Toothless as they spiralled down out of the clouds. The ocean shone way down below.

"Okay bud, time to pull up." Hiccup had to yell over the roar of the wind. Toothless snapped out his wings, slowing their descent but the duo continued to drop.

"Pull up!"

Hiccup managed to glance back at Toothless's new tail fin. It wasn't quite in the right position to help them pull out of the dive.

"Toothless!"

The wind pressure was intense. Hiccup struggled to pull his legs up. The ocean loomed closer. With a yell Hiccup managed to hook his foot into the pedal.

They had seconds left.

Hiccup reached for the new lever. Almost there. Fingers grazed metal.

"Come on!" Closer. _Closer._

 _"Yes!"_

Hiccup pulled the lever and pushed his foot forward. Toothless's tail snapped into the correct position and the dive levelled out. Toothless's claws cut through the white caps as dragon and rider were drenched by the sea spray.

Hiccup let out the breath he didn't realised he'd been holding.

"That was a little too close bud," he rested a hand on his dragon's neck.

"What just happened?" Astrid hovered a few feet above Hiccup and Toothless.

"You saw that huh?" Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. He hadn't seen her arrive. "We just need to work out a few kinks. Don't we Toothless?"

"You were almost splattered across the water. That's a pretty major kink if you ask me."

Hiccup scratched at his chin. "Maybe if I could find a way to reach the pedals while lying down," he was talking mostly to himself now, lost in the ideas floating around his head. "Find a new way to connect the pedals."

Astrid rolled her eyes. It could be hours before he started making sense again. She got Stormfly to drop down in front of the Night Fury.

"If you're done," Astrid leaned forward in her saddle. "Don't we have a herd of Gronkles to relocate?"

They'd been having issues with a small number of Gronkles that had made their home on Berk. The Dragon Riders were quickly learning that these Gronkles were picky eaters, favouring a type of rock found in the cliffs around the village. In the last two weeks they had caused the collapse of two rock faces, one above the training arena and another close to the stables.

Fishlegs had identified the rock and he and had Hiccup had spent days searching the island for another source to keep the dragons happy. Now it was a case of herding the Gronkles to what would hopefully be their new home on the other side of the island.

"After you milady." Hiccup gestured grandly for Astrid to go ahead, hoping this new task would distract her from the fact that he and Toothless had very nearly slammed into the ocean. With a humoured shake of her head she obliged.

They raced to the meeting point were Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins were waiting on their dragons.

"Okay gang you know what to do!"

Hiccup directed Fishlegs to branch off to the right, Snotlout to the left. Astrid and the twins moved to get behind the wild dragons.

These Gronkles were fairly peaceful dragons, but they didn't take well to being removed from their favourite food source.

"Snotlout cut that one off!" One of the Gronkles was making a break for it. Shooting out of the group it was cut off by Snotlout and Hookfang.

"Haha, gotcha." Snotlout pushed the dragon back towards the centre. "Gotta be quicker than that to beat Hookfang."

"Uh Hiccup," Fishlegs called out nervously. More of the dragons were flying erratically, looking for breaks in the riders' line.

"I know Fishlegs." Hiccup directed Toothless higher, above the heard. "We're almost there, just keep them together a little longer."

He could see their destination up ahead. It was just a matter of directing the dragons towards the rocky outcrops that contained the stone they liked. One of the leading Gronkles dropped down suddenly.

"Go after him bud."

Toothless dove.

"Hiccup! Look out!"

Unseen below, another Gronkle had tried to escape, flying straight up and the two dragons collided in mid-air.

Toothless had rolled at the last moment attempting to avoid the Gronkle. The boulder class dragon had struck the Night Fury on his right side, knocking the wind out of Toothless.

The black dragon began to lose altitude. The pedal controlling his tail had been crushed, the fin itself was not in position to keep him airborne.

Toothless spread his wings to slow the fall. They'd been in a dive when the collision occurred, picking up speed in the moments before impact.

"They're still going too fast." Astrid watched as the scene played out before her. "Go, girl, go!" She urged Stormfly forward, faster and faster towards Hiccup and Toothless.

"Aim for the clearing," Hiccup tried to direct Toothless towards the clear patch of grass.

Astrid leant forward as far as her saddle would allow. "Almost there girl!"

Stormfly reached out her talons, but she wasn't quite fast enough.

Toothless hit the field running and was almost able to pull himself up. A dip in the ground caused him to stumble and fall.

Hiccup was thrown forward, but the catch holding his prosthetic failed to open and he wasn't thrown completely from Toothless's back. The dragon twisted and tried to wrap his rider up in his wings and shelter him as they slid to a stop.

"Hiccup!" Astrid jumped from Stormfly as soon as they were close enough to the ground. She ran to the downed dragon. "Toothless. Are you two okay?"

Toothless opened his wings slowly to reveal his rider.

"Ow." Hiccup looked up at Astrid. "Let's not do that again."

He was lying awkwardly. His left leg still attached to the pedal controlling Toothless's tail. The clasp had been damaged in the initial collision and the rest of the rig had snapped during the bumpy landing.

Astrid knelt beside her boyfriend.

"You've really got a way with words today," she told him as she worked to untangle boy and dragon. "That's the second time today you've shrugged off a brush with death."

"Forgive me for not choosing my words more carefully," Hiccup quipped. "I'm still trying to process the fact that I'm alive." He yelped when Astrid tried to disengage his foot from the saddle.

"I'd prefer you stopped trying to kill yourself." Astrid tried again with the foot.

Hiccup tried to sit up with a groan. "Ow, no, that hurts too. Just undo it from my leg." He lay back down gingerly.

With a frown Astrid undid the ties that kept Hiccup's wooden leg attached. It popped off and Hiccup could put his leg down.

The other riders had finished rounding up the dragons and were coming in to land.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Tuffnut jumped from Belch. "The way you hit the ground. We almost thought you had it."

"Buuut, you didn't. That was one spectacular crash." Ruffnut came to stand by her twin.

"Are you okay?" Fishlegs and Meatlug hovered nearby.

"I'm fine guys, really." Hiccup sat very slowly. Astrid helped him all the way up. "Toothless, how about you? You okay buddy?" The dragon crooned softly in response. "See. We're fine."

"Really?" Astrid asked, unconvinced. She rocked back on her shins and put her hands on her hips. "Go on Dragonboy, stand up then."

"Good luck there Astrid, he only has one leg!" Snotlout had caught up to the rest of the group. Astrid scowled at him and the boy backed away.

Hiccup sat, silently determining the best way up. He reached for the remains for Toothless's saddle, biting back a groan when his ribs protested.

That option out he contemplated his next move.

Astrid reached out to grasp his hand, taking pity on him. "Come on, up we go." She pulled him to his foot.

Upright Hiccup leant heavily on Toothless. Lines of pain were drawn across his forehead.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Astrid still held Hiccups hand. She felt his fingers squeeze hers in what was probably reassurance, but the grip was just a little too tight.

"I just... just need a minute," he panted.

"You guys head back to Berk," Astrid addressed the other riders. "We'll meet you back there later."

The twins led the group off back towards the village, leaving Hiccup and Astrid alone with their dragons.

"Okay, out with it Hiccup," Astrid was checking Hiccup over, "what hurts?"

Hiccup let out a tentative laugh, "everything?"

"Care to be a little more specific?"

"Uh, leg," Hiccup rubbed a hand down his thigh towards his left knee. "Ribs… head…"

"There's not much we can do right now," Astrid pointed out. "We need to get back to Berk. Gothi can check you over."

Hiccup cast an eye over Toothless's damaged harness.

"I'm not sure if Toothless can fly like this. I can't fix his tail here, but I might have his old rigging still at home in the forge. If you go get it…" he glanced down, wincing at the movement. His head was pounding making thinking difficult.

"I'm not leaving you here alone Hiccup, not like this."

"I'm not leaving Toothless here alone."

"Toothless can take care of himself," Astrid indicated to the dragon. "Much better than you can right now. Tell me honestly, would you be upright right now if you didn't have Toothless to lean on?"

Hiccup didn't answer.

"As soon as we get you back to Berk I'll come straight back for Toothless, I promise."

Toothless pushed his head into Hiccup's hands, trying to reassure his rider.

"We could walk back," Hiccup suggested.

"You can't walk!" Astrid reached for the useless prosthetic tangled in the saddle, giving it a few tugs to prove it was stuck.

"There should be a spare in the bag," Hiccup flapped his hand towards his saddle bag. "I always carry a spare." This last part was mumbled, more to himself than anything. The gesturing hand came up to rub this head where a painful bump was forming.

Astrid rummaged through the bag, pulling the spare leg free. It looked okay. Toothless had taken the brunt of the collision and fall on his left side, the bag was hanging on the right. Astrid handed over the leg and took a moment to glance over the Night Fury for injuries. It appeared that his tough scales had protected him, but there were scrapes and marks from where his harness had dug into the softer skin under his legs and the dragon appeared to be favouring his left leg slightly. Hiccup definitely wasn't thinking straight if he'd failed to take in Toothless's injuries. Astrid scowled. This time his stubbornness wasn't just putting himself at risk.

She turned to point this out, watching the dark-haired Viking wobble as he tried to bend down to attach his foot.

"How about you sit down before you fall down?" She snatched the prosthetic out of his hands.

"As-"

"Sit!"

She helped him down and knelt.

"I can put it on myself." Hiccup held out his hands for his foot, Astrid shoved it at him with shaking hands. She tried to ignore the heat pickling at her eyes. She was _not_ going to cry! Warriors did not cry.

Hiccup groaned.

"I think I might need some help," he admitted. He handed the metal leg back to Astrid, leaning back when she took it and rubbing gingerly at his ribs.

He watched her face, taking in the dark expression.

"You're angry with me."

Astrid sighed, trying to relax her posture. "I'm not angry Hiccup." Her hands were gentle as she eased the hem of his pants up to attach his spare leg. "You scared me. Badly. When you and Toothless hit the ground..." she trailed off as she finished tying the knot to keep the prosthetic secure. "I just want to get you back to Berk. Get you looked at. Toothless too."

At that Hiccup turned to look at his dragon- _really_ look at him.

"You're right, I'm sorry," Hiccup put a hand on Toothless. "I'm sorry bud. I- I wasn't thinking." He was finally noticing the scratches that marred the dragon's side.

Toothless chirped reassurances at his rider.

"We'll check him out when we reach Berk," Astrid promised. "You ready to stand?" She moved around to the injured boy's side, hooking her hands under his arms to haul him up.

"Yeah, time to go."

On the count of three, Astrid helped Hiccup to his feet. They stood there for a moment while he caught his breath. His left leg was bent slightly at the knee, to avoid putting any weight on it. With a steadying breath, he eased his weight down onto the injured leg.

"Okay, walking's out," he grunted shifting his weight back onto his good foot.

Toothless darted to move in front of Hiccup, indicating that the boy should climb on.

"No Toothless," Hiccup gently pushed his dragon back. "I'm not going to ride you when you're injured too."

"Maybe we could get you on Stormfly," Astrid suggested.

Hiccup gazed up at the tall blue dragon and gulped. "Yeah, maybe." He looked back to his own dragon. "You sure you're okay to walk bud?" Toothless nodded and pushed him towards Stormfly. "Okay then."

Astrid supported his weight as he hobbled over to the dragon. "Crouch down girl, let's make this as easy as possible."

With a cheerful squawk Stormfly sat in the grass, pressing herself low so that Hiccup could struggle into the saddle.

Astrid removed the last of the ropes that made up Toothless's damaged saddle and unbuckled the damaged fin from the Night Fury's tail. Unencumbered the dragon looked a little more comfortable. That done, Astrid climbed up behind Hiccup, wrapping her arms about his waist.

"Let's go home."

()

It was a long walk back to the village.

Stormfly's springing gait had not made for a pleasant trip and Hiccup was relieved to finally see the edge of the forest where the fields around Berk began.

In truth, it had only taken around half an hour to make the return journey to Berk, but with every jolt Hiccup's new aches and pains made themselves known and time seemed to stretch.

As they reached the centre of the village they found the other riders. Stoick and Gobber were both with them.

"Son!" The Chief had caught sight of his boy and was strolling over. "We were about to come looking for you."

"Sorry Chief." Astrid eased her hold on Hiccup's waist in the presence of his father. "We realised Toothless's tail was too damaged to fly. We had to walk."

"But everyone's okay?"

"I'm fine Dad," Hiccup tried to brush off his father's concern. "I'm more worried about Toothless."

"I'll make sure he gets checked out," Astrid smiled down at the Chief. They both knew what Hiccup was like. "Fishlegs, would you take a look at Toothless? Gobber, maybe you could lend a hand? I know you've been tending to some of the dragons here on Berk."

"I would be happy to help lass." The blacksmith hobbled forward towards the Night Fury. "Come along dragon. We'll get you sorted in no time."

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, will you two fetch Gothi and bring her to the Chief's hut?"

"We're on it." Ruffnut cheered as she swung up on to her dragon's neck. Her twin copied her movements and the green dragon took off into the sky.

Nodding to herself, Astrid tightened her hold on Hiccup once more.

"Right, well I guess we'll meet you up at the Chief's hut soon. Up we go girl."

As they took off, Stoick turned to shoot a glance at Gobber who was chuckling to himself.

That girl was so right for his boy.

()

Stormfly landed lightly on the grass outside of Hiccup's house.

Astrid swung a graceful leg over the saddle to slip down from Stormfly's back, landing just as lightly beside the Deadly Nadder. She turned to help Hiccup down from the dragon. Once again Stormfly crouched to make it easier for them. Astrid got Hiccup inside and sitting a stool at the foot of the stairs.

"Shirt. Off."

"What. Now? But Gothi will be here any moment!" Hiccup had been quiet since they had entered the village. Now he was blushing fiercely and fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Really Hiccup? I want to make sure you haven't broken anything. What did you think I was going to do?" Astrid rolled her eyes. "How hard did you hit your head?"

"Right. I knew… of course."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Which one?"

"Head."

"Oh... that… look, there may be two of you in here right now… not that I particularly mind…"

There was a knock on the door before Astrid could respond. The twins had returned with Gothi. Astrid let the Elder inside.

"This really isn't necessary…" Hiccup tried the aging argument one last time.

"Hiccup, babe, shut up and take off your shirt."

Hiccup gave in and started working on the ties that held his leather armour in place. Astrid sat on a stool beside him to help, discarding the pieces in a pile on the floor.

Gothi pottered around them, setting up some of the things she had brought down from her hut.

The front door swung open again, startling the younger Vikings but Gothi appeared unfazed. Stoick strode into the house.

Hiccup grasped the hem of his shirt, pulling it off slowly and wincing as it pulled in tender places.

"I can probably take it from here Astrid," Stoick said, heading over to the pair.

"I don't mind staying." Astrid reached for the shirt Hiccup was now clutching in front of himself.

"I'm his father, I can take care of him."

"I'm his girlfriend," Astrid countered.

"I don't need either of you arguing over me right now," Hiccup grumbled. "But-" he turned to Astrid. "I'd like you to stay… if you want to." He caught his father's look over Astrid's shoulder and groaned in defeat. "You can both stay." He let Astrid take his shirt.

Astrid hissed in sympathy at the sight. Bruises were already beginning to form down Hiccup's left side.

Hiccup was still talking to himself.

"I'm an adult. I'm nineteen years old. I think I'm a little beyond needing people to take care of me."

"I know babe," Astrid added the red shirt to the pile as Gothi came over. The small woman poked and prodded at the tender areas, making small sounds when Hiccup yelped in a particularly painful spot. She made the boy take deep breaths. His face scrunched up at the ache in his throbbing chest. Nodding to herself, Gothi moved on to check the bump on his head.

"Her hands are freezing!" Hiccup complained, earning a light smack to his right shoulder.

"Shush and let her do her job," Astrid warned.

"I wouldn't mind if it was you though."

"No flirting while we're checking you for concussion, Hiccup." Astrid was laughing. Stoick's face had gone the colour of his beard.

"I'll go see how Gobber is going with Toothless." The Chief excused himself quickly and Astrid dissolved into another fit of laughter.

"I swear your dad is easier to embarrass than you are."

"It's about time- _ouch-_ he's been embarrassing me my whole life."

Gothi moved on to assess his leg, removing the prosthetic gently and revealing what was left of Hiccup's lower limb. The trail of bruises down his left side appeared to extend right to the end of his leg. His knee was swollen and inflamed.

The Elder returned to the table to look through her supplies. Astrid went over to watch. Gothi picked up a discarded pencil and scratched her words onto a piece of parchment.

"She's making a paste which should help the swelling go down faster," Astrid read over the tiny woman's shoulder. "There's not much she can do about your ribs. Bad bruising?" She struggled to decipher the language. "Maybe cracked? I'm not sure."

The wise woman dropped her pencil and returned to her task.

"Why don't I go check on Toothless?" Astrid offered. "We're almost done here anyway."

The examination had laid most of Astrid's fears to rest. Hiccup was going to be fine.

()

Two days later and Hiccup was chomping at the bit, desperate to get out of the house.

"You can't wear that until the swelling goes down."

"Well then I'll need my old crutch."

"You've got cracked ribs"

"But how am I supposed to get around Berk?"

"You're not. You're supposed to rest."

Astrid knocked on the door, listening to the raised voices coming from inside.

"Astrid, see if you can talk some sense into the boy." Stoick had one of Hiccup's prosthetic legs clutched in his large hand, holding it out of reach.

"Astrid, see if you can convince my father that I'm not a child- "

"Well the way your acting, you could've fooled- "

Astrid rolled her eyes at the two Haddock men and went to stand by Toothless.

"Have they been like this all morning?" She asked the dragon. The Night Fury let out a long human-like sigh. "Maybe we should get out of here, and leave them to work things out."

The dragon leapt to his feet.

"I'm going to let you two sort this out yourselves."

"Come on Astrid, how about a little support?" Hiccup hopped painfully towards the stairs.

"Your dad's right Hiccup." Astrid put her arms out to steady him. "I'll be back later."

Before he could argue, Astrid left the house with Toothless. Stormfly was waiting outside.

Together they walked down to the village. It was a cool morning. Toothless and Stormfly took turns chasing each other through the grass. Fishlegs and Gobber had done a good job cleaning up the Night Fury's superficial scratches and grazes and though his front paw was tender, it didn't look like the dragon had done any serious damage to himself in the fall. It didn't appear to be limiting his play with the Deadly Nadder.

As they passed the forge a thought occurred to Astrid. She ducked inside.

Gobber was working inside, pounding at a red-hot piece of metal with his prosthetic hammer hand.

"I would'a thought you'd be with tha boy." Gobber paused in his hammering to change his hand over. This new one allowed him to grip the glowing metal and dunk it in the bucket of water by his feet. The water boiled instantly, sizzling and bubbling around the iron rod.

"He's in a bit of a mood." Astrid wandered over to see what the older Viking was working on. "I think Stoick has stolen Hiccup's leg and that is not an argument I want to get in the middle of."

"Smart lass, I wouldn't want ta get in between those two either."

"I was just going to have a look in Hiccup's work room." Astrid pushed through the clutter to get to the door. "I know he had some plans he was working on."

Gobber put his work down.

"That's a good idea. Give him something ta do."

"That's the plan." Astrid ducked through into the small work room. The desk by the wall was littered with pieces of parchment. Astrid picked slowly through the mess. On the very top of the pile were the plans for the tail Hiccup and Toothless had been testing the morning of the accident.

Astrid made a new pile on the stool. She was always stunned at the ideas her boyfriend came up with. She could see more plans for his fiery sword, they were added to the pile. She also found plans for new buildings on Berk. She shuffled through the papers finding an interesting design at the bottom. It was added to the bundle on the stool. Astrid rolled the stack of papers into a tube to take back to Hiccup.

"Hopefully this will keep him occupied for a while," Astrid muttered as she backed out of the room. She waved to Gobber on her way out of the forge deciding enough time had passed. Hopefully both Hiccup and Stoick would be in better moods when she returned.

The dragons stayed outside when she reached the hut, playing together in the sun. Astrid left them rolling in the grass and went inside.

"Here," Astrid dropped her bundle on the table. Hiccup was sitting downstairs at the table.

"What are these?" He unrolled the parchments.

"I thought you could use something to do." Astrid sat on the stool opposite him.

A smile spread across Hiccup's face as he realised what she had brought him.

"This is fantastic Astrid. Thank you."

Astrid shrugged. "If it keeps you out of trouble." She reached out and placed a hand over Hiccup's. "I'm happy to help."


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so this. is. finished! I totally lost momentum and it took much longer than expected, but it is done now and I'm hoping to also get the next chapter of Land Below the Waves up over the next few days. Thanks for bearing with me guys!

* * *

"I told him to take it easy." Astrid was marching through Berk searching for her wayward boyfriend. He hadn't been at his house that morning when she had gone to visit. "He promised me he'd take it easy." She pulled her furs in tighter around herself. The wind howled between the buildings and the air smelled of snow.

Astrid spotted her target. Blue eyes narrowed. "But of course he's not going to take it easy," she mumbled to herself. "What was I thinking? It's Hiccup!"

Astrid stomped into the forge. "Your dad is looking _everywhere_ for you." She leant against one of the pillars near the entrance.

Hiccup was sitting on a stool, a pile of leather in his lap. His crutch lay discarded on the floor.

"Astrid." He raised his hands. "This is not what it looks like."

"Really?" Astrid mocked.

"Really." Hiccup put his work down. "I'm taking it easy! I am. I just had to get out of the house."

Technically he wasn't wrong. The sewing he was doing didn't look particularly strenuous. Curious, Astrid walked over.

"What are you working on?"

"I'm making some adjustments to Toothless's saddle," Hiccup gestured to the parchment rolled out beside him. "The saddle itself wasn't badly damaged, but I've got some ideas for some improvements."

Astrid picked up the drawings.

"These look really good." She sat on the floor by the stool going over the lines. "What are these?" She pointed at two of the markings on the paper.

Hiccup peered over her shoulder.

"Handles," he explained. "They control the tail fin just like the pedals," he pointed to another design. "I can lie along Toothless's back and still help him fly." Hiccup's voice filled with excitement, the way it usually did when he spoke of flying. It was hard not to get caught up in it. "This lever here will switch between the pedals and the handles."

"Have the pedals changed?" A few more modifications had caught Astrid's eye.

"Yeah," Hiccup leant down with a wince. Realising he was going for the other pile of parchment, Astrid gathered the pieces up to hand them to him. He rifled through the stack, looking for the right one. Locating the one he wanted, Hiccup showed the pictures to Astrid.

"This one here is for flying." Hiccup waved the first drawing in Astrid's face. "And this one is for walking, and maybe one more for walking on ice."

"These are great," Astrid's brows wrinkled together in thought. "But are you really going to carry around all three of these?"

"That's the beauty of it Astrid." The parchment fluttered wildly in Hiccup's flailing hands. "It's one leg with interchangeable feet. See here-" It was flapping too much for Astrid to really see the design. "-you twist this bit, and it swaps them over."

It was always nice and warm in the forge. Today, with the wind howling outside Astrid was almost willing to forgo her chores for the day, preferring to sit in the warmth and watch Hiccup work. But she had wasted too much time with him already. Reluctantly, she got to her feet.

"Your dad wanted me to tell you," Astrid tidied up the stack of papers, "Bucket's been complaining, so it's looking like there's a nasty storm brewing."

Hiccup put his work down.

"We'll need to make sure the dragons are secure and close up the stables."

"We've got this Hiccup," Astrid put her hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "I'll gather the Dragon Riders. Between us, your dad, and the A Team we'll get everything secure before the storm hits."

Hiccup reached up to take Astrid's hand.

"I can help. I can't just sit around and do nothing. I could… I could supervise!"

Astrid narrowed her eyes.

"If I let you come with me, will you promise me you'll stay on Toothless?" Astrid asked. She bent down to retrieve Hiccup's crutch and hand it to him.

"Yes, I promise!"

()

"Hiccup Haddock you liar."

Astrid emerged from the path leading down to the stables. It was one of the many entrances the villagers could take down to the cave within the cliffs. Stormfly was tucked up inside where she would be safe from the storm. Berk was prepared for the wild weather ahead. The wind had picked up while she'd been gone, blowing away anything that had been missed and wasn't tied down.

"I was just-"

Astrid cocked an eyebrow and waited.

"I was just…" Hiccup trailed off lamely. "It was going to blow away." He passed Astrid the basket he'd climbed off Toothless to retrieve. He leaned gingerly against his wooden crutch and wobbled slightly on his single leg. Toothless nudged his head under Hiccup's free elbow to steady him.

"You were supposed to watch him," Astrid turned her frustration on Snotlout who was lounging against Hookfang.

"I'm no one's babysitter," Snotlout crossed his arms over his chest.

"You volunteered to do it!"

"Yeah, well it was that or go do all that other work. Jeez Astrid, it's like you don't even know me." Snotlout pushed away from Hookfang.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't," Astrid grumbled. She tucked the basket away where it wouldn't blow off.

The first snowflakes were beginning to fall, fluttering down to stick on clothes and catch in hair. The clouds overhead were dark and heavy.

"We should probably head home." Fishlegs and the twins had joined the others. Fishlegs was looking nervously at the sky, like it was going to open up right above them.

"We're just about done here," Astrid agreed. "You guys go get out of the storm. There's one more thing I've got to do."

"I'll come with you." Toothless crouched so that Hiccup could climb onto his back.

Astrid nodded. "Let's go."

With Toothless and Hiccup beside her, Astrid walked through Berk.

"Where are we going?" Hiccup had to call out to be heard above the wind.

"Home."

It was snowing heavily by the time they reached the front door of the Chief's house. Visibility was down to almost zero. The late afternoon sun was completely obscured bringing nightfall to the island early. The small beam of light that glowed from beneath the door was all the two Vikings had to go by.

Astrid struggled with the door. Snow had already banked up in front of it, making it difficult for her feet to find purchase on the slippery ground. A shove from Toothless got the door open and quickly she staggered inside. Toothless followed, leaning on the door to shut it again.

"You made it."

Stoick was already sitting in his chair by the fire.

"It's getting pretty wild out there." Hiccup slipped carefully from Toothless's back. He sat down by the fire and rubbed his leg gingerly. The swelling was beginning to go down, but bad weather would often make his stump ache.

"I should go before it gets worse." Astrid took the opportunity to fix her hood. It had blown back in the wind.

"You can't go out in this weather lass." Stoick gestured for Astrid to take a seat. "Stay at least until it calms down a bit."

Toothless had curled up on the floor behind his rider. Astrid sat down with them, holding her hands out towards the fire.

The house creaked in the fierce wind. Every now and then a gust would blow through a gap in the roof eliciting a mournful whistle. Outside the storm raged on.

There was a loud knock at the door.

"Stoick? Are you in there?"

The Chief went to the door, revealing two snow-covered figures. Lanterns flickered and sputtered, almost going out in the gale.

"Stoick! The roof has blown off the Thoreson's house!"

The Chief of Berk jumped to action immediately.

"Right I'm coming." He grabbed his heavy fur coat from where it was drying beside the fireplace.

"Do you need any help?" Astrid was already on her feet, ready to go.

"No, it's too dangerous out there." Stoick took another lantern at lit the candle inside. "We'll get them up to the Great Hall and wait there until the worst of this storm passes. I want both of you to stay here." He rushed out into the darkness, slamming the door behind him.

"So I guess it's just you and me then." Astrid shrugged out of her coat. The snow trapped in the fur had melted into the fabric. She hung it by the fireplace and instructed Hiccup to toss her his damp jacket. "So what else have you been working on?" She spotted a pile of his work sitting on the table and went over for a look.

"Oh those? They're nothing. I'll just- you can-"

Astrid shuffled through the papers coming to a picture at the bottom of the pile.

"Oh."

She pulled it out to look closer.

"It's me."

The rough sketches had been drawn hastily, as if the artist had been afraid of being caught in the act. Pictures of Astrid on Stormfly. Astrid with her axe. Running and jumping as she trained.

"You drew me?"

Astrid looked over at Hiccup.

"You like them?" He wouldn't meet her eye.

Astrid went and sat back down beside him. She lay her head on Hiccup's shoulder, basking in the glow of the fire.

"Like them? I love them." She turned her head and pressed her lips to his cheek.

"Maybe I should draw some more?"

"Mmhmm," Astrid kissed down near Hiccup's jaw, trailing downwards. He turned his head and ducked, capturing her lips with his own.

"Could you imagine if your dad came home right now?" The words were mumbled against his mouth.

"Really Astrid?" Hiccup pulled away slightly. "That's what you choose to say right now?"

"We've never made out in your house before," Astrid pulled Hiccup in close to kiss him again.

"That's one thing I miss about Dragon's Edge," Hiccup mumbled. "Less chance of someone walking in on you."

"We'll just need to find better hiding places around Berk."

The cove where Hiccup first found Toothless was their usual go to spot. This time of year it would be completely snowed in and the pond would be iced over.

They kissed again. The howling wind giving them confidence that Stoick wouldn't be back any time soon.

Hiccup glanced over at Toothless. The dragon was watching them curiously, his intelligent eyes taking everything in. Hiccup flicked his eyes up towards the stairs. The Night Fury followed his gaze, head tilted in question. Hiccup did it again and the dragon seemed to get the message. Pushing to his paws he yawned and stretched before padding upstairs.

"Did you just send your dragon away?" Astrid was leaning back, watching the exchange.

"Having Toothless watch is almost as bad as having my dad watch," Hiccup complained.

"You're such a dork," Astrid teased. She pressed a trail of kisses down her boyfriend's neck.

Hiccup's hands came up. One snaked around Astrid's waist while the other rose to cup her cheek. With nothing to prop themselves up they fell. Hiccup overbalancing backwards and Astrid tumbling on top of him.

"Ow. Ow. _Ow!_ "

"I'm sorry," Astrid was laughing as she said it.

"If you were sorry you would move," Hiccup pointed out, grinning through the pain.

"I'm comfortable here."

They were both laughing, rolling around on the ground. Hiccup was clutching his side.

"I'm not. I can't breathe!"

Astrid rolled sideways so that she was lying on the floor on her back.

"Better?"

Hiccup found her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.

"Better."

The sky had cleared by morning, and the work to repair the village had taken several days.

Astrid surveyed the scene below as she flew Stormfly through the crisp air above Berk.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid guided Stormfly down to land beside Hiccup and Toothless. In a graceful leap, she jumped down to land in the snow.

Astrid placed her hands on her hips, coming to stand in front of Toothless. Hiccup was perched on the Night Fury's back, adjusting one of the straps on the saddle.

"Remember I was showing you the plans to add handles to the saddle?" Hiccup demonstrated by tugging on one of the new levers that sat at the front of the saddle. Toothless's red tail fin snapped out.

"Hiccup, you have two broken ribs. You shouldn't be flying."

"We're not flying, are we bud."

Astrid inspected the metal pieces in Toothless's tail rigging.

"Have you been working in the forge?"

After the storm, all able-bodied Vikings had been busy repairing the damage to the village. Hiccup had been left alone for three days and had obviously taken advantage of the situation.

"Just a little," Hiccup hopped down from Toothless. He was wearing his prosthetic leg again and was only limping slightly as he made his way to Astrid.

"You're impossible." Astrid grinned mischievously. "So have you tried it out yet?"

"Not yet," Hiccup looked at Toothless with longing. It had been over a week since they had last been in the air.

"Is it ready?" Astrid asked. "Why don't you try it out now?"

"Two minutes ago you were lecturing me on flying," Hiccup reminded her.

"I know," Astrid sighed. "But we both know you're going to do it anyway and Toothless hasn't been in the air in days. I know I'd be going crazy if I was grounded for that long."

"Just a quick flight around the island," Hiccup was already limping back towards Toothless.

"No crazy stunts." Astrid climbed back onto Stormfly as Hiccup mounted Toothless. The Night Fury had a big gummy grin.

"Let's go bud."

Powerful muscles bunched under black scales and the dragon sprang into the air. Higher they climbed into crisp winter air. The sky was clear and cold with no clouds in sight.

Leveling out, Hiccup pulled the right handle, shifting the position of Toothless's tail.

"Looks like it's working." Astrid circled above on Stormfly.

"Okay bud, we're going to take this nice and slow." Hiccup shifted the handles again and Toothless dove.

He cried out in exhilaration as the wind streamed through his hair and pushed him back in his seat. In that moment, the difficulties of the past week were forgotten. It was just Hiccup and Toothless soaring through the sky.

With a flick of the new handles, Toothless pulled effortlessly out of the dive.

"Yes! It works!" Hiccup twisted in his seat to check the position of the tail ignoring the twinge of pain it caused. They climbed back up to where Astrid and Stormfly were watching.

"Looking good, babe." Astrid called down to them"Ready head back?."

She was surprised when Hiccup nodded and guided Toothless back towards land.

They touched down by the edge of the forest behind the Berk.

"Well?" Astrid jumped from Stormfly's back to land lightly beside the Deadly Nadder. Hiccup's dismount was much less graceful.

"Maybe you were right and it _is_ still too soon for flying."

"Words I never thought I would hear coming from your mouth."

"At least now, with a working tail, Toothless can fly," Hiccup's mood was better than it had been all week." It's not fair that he's been grounded this whole time too."

"And soon you'll both be back up in the air." Astrid assured him.

With snow crunching under their boots, the two Vikings made their way home.

()

"Okay bud, what do you think?" Hiccup sat on the stool in front of the forge fire. On the bench beside him he'd laid out the bits and pieces he'd been working on.

The wooden attachment for his new leg was finished, as were the individual metal pieces that would make up the 'feet'. Hiccup held the new flying attachment for Toothless to inspect.

"This is just one part," Hiccup explained. "But I won't have to change my leg every time it snows." He exchanged the flying attachment with the walking attachment.

The dragon sniffed curiously at the metal. He gave a big grin.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Hiccup put the foot down and picked up the wooden cup. He'd lined the inside so that it would be comfortable on his leg. The gears were tricky to fit together, they needed to move smoothly when the bottom section was twisted.

Hiccup worked slowly, attaching bits of metal, tightening nuts and screws, explaining the process to Toothless as his fingers carefully pieced his new leg together. The dragon sat and watched while his rider muttered about the different components. He knew Hiccup liked to talk as he worked.

With an experimental twist, Hiccup switched the legs over.

"Huh, it works. Should we test it out?"

Hiccup removed his old leg to attach the new one. It was a good fit. Even before the crash he'd been meaning to upgrade his leg, his old one had been getting a bit short.

He stood, testing how the new prosthetic held his weight. Toothless eyed the contraption warily as it creaked, but the metal held. Hiccup balanced on one foot as he switched the feet over and tested each one. His ribs only protested slightly as he bent over. After weeks of taking it slow and resting he was almost completely healed.

When Hiccup had rebuilt Toothless's flying harness, he had removed the old foot pedal in preparation for his new prosthetic leg. He'd been using the new handles he'd installed to fly while he completed the leg. In place of the old pedal, he'd attached a new lever, one that would connect to his new foot.

"We'll take it slow," he told Toothless. "Stay low to the ground until we're sure this works." He climbed up into the saddle and reached down to twist the dial that would switch his feet over Carefully, he slid his foot into place. It latched with a click.

Toothless gave a wiggle and hopped forwards out of the forge and into the open area outside. Muscles bunched and flexed as the dragon leapt into the air. As they gained height, Hiccup shifted the new pedal experimentally.

The movement was different and would take some getting used to, but the gears turned smoothly and the tail popped open easily.

"This is it bud," Hiccup lay a hand against Toothless's neck. "Let's see what it can do."

They climbed higher into the wispy clouds above Berk.

With another click, the lever slid forward and Toothless dived down towards the ocean. They pulled up at the last moment barely grazing the ocean. Hiccup closed his eyes against the salty sea spray.

Warbling in joy, Toothless spun in the air. They were close enough to the water that Hiccup's head got a good dunking.

The Viking snorted sea water from his nose as the dragon righted himself.

"Really Toothless?" The dragon snorted and they climbed again, turning for Berk. Astrid was waiting for them when they touched down.

"You look like you've been struck by lightning." She was grinning.

Hiccup looked at her, confused. Astrid gestured towards her hair. Hiccup took the hint and raised a hand to his own hair, newly dried from the wind. He could feel that it was sticking out at all angles, so he ran a hand through the locks in an attempt to smooth them down. Astrid was laughing at him, so Hiccup figured he'd failed. Maybe he needed a helmet. With a visor. That would help with visibility and keeping the wind out of his eyes.

Hiccup was already making the plans in his head. He missed the last part Astrid had said.

"I'm sorry, I promise I'm listening now." Hiccup made another quick attempt to smooth his hair. Astrid beckoned him over to fix the damage.

"I said you look pleased with yourself." She twisted another braid behind his ear under the pretence of untangling.

"Can you tell what's changed?"

Astrid held Hiccup at arm's length to look him over.

"Well, your hair extra big today, but I don't think that's it," she teased. "You finished the foot!"

She directed Hiccup to sit so she could examine his new prosthetic.

"This is really amazing work Hiccup." Astrid finally clambered back to her feet. "But now that you're longer grounded, we have some work to do."

"You're right," Hiccup stood and brushed the snow from his pants. "Shall we Milady?"


End file.
